The intent of this blog is to highlight areas of the book collecting world that are of interest to me. Henry Altemus Books, the authors- Wayne Whipple, George Peck (and his "Bad Boy"), Hezekiah Butterworth, Jacob Abbott- juvenile series books of the 19th and 20th centuries and book/publisher ephemera. I hope there is something for all collectors here.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Daniel Lothrop and and His Publishing House-Part 1

Dating 19th century books can be tricky at times. There are plenty of simple guidelines however to make it a bit easier. Previously it has been noted that Lee and Shepard and the D. Lothrop Publishing Company became Lothrop Lee and Shepard in 1905.

Here is an introduction into Daniel Lothrop's Publishing House. Tomorrow I will give you some dating parameters for Lothrop books.

Lothrop opened his book store and publishing house at 38 and 40 Cornhill in Boston in 1868. His first book was Andy Lutrell which was a big seller and made it easier for him to reach out to other authors. His book list over the life of his house consisted of a great variety of material but children's/juvenile books were most prominent. In fact, there is no other late 19th century publisher who came close to printing as many juvenile series as Lothrop did.

In the early 1870's he offered large financial incentives ($1000/$500) for manuscripts which eventually found their way into his $1000/$500 Series. He was known as being willing to spend for quality work. Lothrop House big sellers were the Pansy books, Miss Yonge's Histories, and various "art gift books". His house published several magazines for children starting in the mid 1870's including Pansy, Babyland and Wide Awake.

By 1875 because he had outgrown his Cornhill shop he moved to larger quarters on Franklin and Hawley Streets.

Here are pictures of the exterior and interior of the Franklin and Hawley Streets location.

For over 30 plus years I have been collecting Henry Altemus books, juvenile series books, 19th century juvenile books, publishers' ephemera, etc. I hope to share some of interesting things I have learned here.